130 billion rupees defence budget approved in Sri Lankan Parliament

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 05 December 2006, 15:00 GMT]Sri Lankan Army, Navy and Air Force commanders, Defence Secretary Gotabaya Rajapakse, who narrowly escaped a suicide attack last Frdiay, were present at the Sri Lankan Parliament Tuesday when it approved the defence budget allowing an increased defence spending by 43% to USD 1.3 billion. The Sri Lankan parliament would adopt the budget for 2007 on Wednesday while the Sri Lankan cabinet is expected to decide on re-imposing the Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) that has not been invoked since the signing of the Ceasefire Agreement between the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

The Sri Lankan parliament extended the state of emergency by a majority of 93 votes, parliamentary sources said.

115 MPs were present at the parliament. Except 11 TNA MPs present at the house, 104 voted for the emergency.

The ruling SLFP and it's alliance parties, opposition UNP and JVP, JHU and SLMC members voted for the motion.